Well, I grew up hearing and seeing it as Will-eeze. I just think that when I see "ly" at the end of something, I say (lee), or it may be (lie) but thats something else, like, "illy", I see it as "ill-lee". I don't see it spelled like "lis". It might be that they say Will-eeze but they have an accent so they say will-iss, as they are saying it fast! I dunno, it just sounds weird that way! :?
Well, ok, that's weird, just thought of this as I was finishing this post, Willy is pronounced (will-ee) and you don't say will-ih, (not ee sounding). 8) I guess its that "s" at the end!